About the song
Love is not the arrow. Love is what you do after it lands.
About these notes
AI-assisted song notes, based on the sources shown here. Not yet human-reviewed.
Words from the artist’s archive
AFTER THE ARROW lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
You blame me for the beginning. No one calls me for year ten.
Verse 1
Not long ago, I worked one room, a school, a job, a friend. Fewer doors were open, so two names met again. Some learned how to mend a break because they could not flee. Some called a locked door "loyalty" and handed praise to me.
Chorus
After the arrow, what then? I only make you turn your head. I can start the wanting; I cannot make a home. The bow can choose a moment. It cannot choose again. Love is not the arrow. Love is what you do after it lands.
Verse 2
Now I fly through rows of faces; one thumb decides the spark. You name the wound, state the need, and leave before it scars. Some leave sooner, some leave safer; that freedom should remain. But some keep shopping through a kiss, afraid to choose one name.
Chorus
After the arrow, what then? I only make you turn your head. I can start the wanting; I cannot make a home. The bow can choose a moment. It cannot choose again. Love is not the arrow. Love is what you do after it lands.
Verse 3
Soon an algorithm reads your pulse before your first hello. It models conflicts you might survive, the miles you should not go. It may save years of mismatch; it may quantify your grief. Then hand you someone ninety-nine and call the number belief.
Bridge
I might trade my bow for code, let forecasts aim for me. But no machine can spend a year beside what it cannot foresee. The future may optimize the meeting. The question will not be new: When being chosen feels uncertain, will you keep on choosing too?
Chorus
After the arrow, what then? I only make you turn your head. I can start the wanting; I cannot make a home. The bow can choose a moment. It cannot choose again. Love is not the arrow. Love is what you do after it lands.
Inside the recording
You blame me for the beginning. No one calls me for year ten.
After the arrow, what then? I only make you turn your head.
After the arrow, what then? I only make you turn your head.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.